The Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, has indicated high street shops and other companies with a commercial lease that are under strain will be protected from what he calls ‘aggressive’ rent collection and asked to pay what they can during the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of landlords and tenants are working well together to reach agreements […]

I have just had a UC47 rejected as it states rent arrears are not in excess of two months rent. Does this mean the total tent of the property – or does this mean the total amount of rent due by the tenant towards her part of the rent – in other words her top […]

Hi all, We have an empty HMO and have been approached by a care company who house service users with learning difficulties through the local council. They’re looking for HMO type properties to place service users with live in carers. We’re completely new to this so wondered if anyone can provide some links/sources/information so we […]

Sourced Capital, has looked at which investment options could recover the quickest in the wake of the current pandemic as markets across the board are currently, or are predicted, to take a hit. They looked at the decline seen in the most recent recession across real estate, oil, precious metals, a number of market indices […]

We understand that amidst these uncertain times, there is an enormous amount of new information being released every day. One of the things we are hearing is that, because every individual’s circumstances are different, landlords are finding it difficult to cut through all of the information in order to access what is relevant to them. […]

Pre-lockdown There were a number of years where the housing market suffered due to the uncertainty around Brexit and more recently the general election. At the end of 2019 the Conservative Party called a General Election that was billed as “one of the most unpredictable elections in decades”. They required a minimum of 326 parliamentary […]

My wife and I own buy to let properties both personally and through our limited company. Following a sizeable development within the company, we were owed £300000 in directors’ loans. We had financed the project with personal money lent to the company. We decided that two of the flats that we had created (an old […]

Hi Mark, I have used the services of Property118 previously for tax planning advice. I have a company that is no longer trading (but still active) that is sitting on a £20,000 of losses and I was wondering if the losses of this company could be set against any potential future gains if I was […]

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is inviting written evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on homelessness, rough sleeping, and the private rented sector, as well as any other connected issues. In particular, the Committee is interesting in finding out: How effective has the support provided by MHCLG and other Government departments in addressing […]

Whilst most events have been forced to cancel or reschedule due to the coronavirus crisis, we are delighted to confirm that the Landlord Law Conference 2020 will now be a two day virtual event, taking place on 12th & 13th May 2020​ Keynote speakers for the conference include NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle, who will be headlining Day 2 of the […]

I am helping a Telegraph journalist with an article and she would like to know: 1. What experience landlords have of being refused the so-called ‘mortgage holidays’? 2. Which lenders are doing this? 3. She would also like to know what reasons they are giving for refusing? 4. Finally, she would like to know whether […]

The NRLA has supported calls from the Mayor of London to ensure the benefits system covers the cost of private rents for those tenants adversely affected by coronavirus. In a statement Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said: “Recent polling has indicated that just 2% of private tenants have had to […]

I note that the LHA rates have been increased from 1st April 2020 – March 2021. A couple of questions… 1. Anyone know if this is ONLY a temporary measure only till March 2021, what happens after this? Will it stay at the same level going forward, or is this increase only because of Covid-19 […]

In 2018 the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and the RLA obtained a Judicial Review of the government’s Right to Rent scheme based on the argument that it increased discrimination against ethnic minorities and foreigners by making Landlords responsible for checking the right of a tenant to reside in the UK for […]

A specialist police unit funded by the banking industry has executed several warrants across the country in a crackdown on criminals sending scam text messages and emails exploiting the coronavirus outbreak. The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU) is made up of officers from the City of London Police and Metropolitan Police and is […]

I have a portfolio of 52 all residential HMO units and my question is what VAT rate should I be paying? British Gas states more than 60% or more domestic is 5%. Please can anyone confirm. Thank you James From British Gas >> https://www.britishgas.co.uk/business/help-and-support/billing-and-payments/VAT-reduction “Your business might be eligible for a reduced rate of VAT […]

A survey carried out by Landlord Action, has revealed that since government measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were introduced on 23 March, 74% of landlords have been contacted by tenants saying they will struggle to pay their rent. This comes as renters’ unions are calling on the Government to suspend rents for the […]

Coventry City Council continues to implement a new HMO Additional Licensing Scheme on 4th May 2020 – even though it has a backlog of more than 700 applications to process for normal HMO licences. Yet still it intends soliciting for thousands more applications. The  council’s head of licensing must really be behind on budget, having […]

It is rare for a newspaper to publish a landlord’s side of the ‘story’ and it seems the telegraph are seeking such.   I think it would be good to bring this to the attention of Property118 readers and we can ‘flood’ the newspaper with negative impact stories from Landlords as a result of the Corona […]

Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be presenting an overview of several landlords tax strategies at the pin Blackfriars and Luton Meetings property networking event Tuesday 28th April. The event will be held Online and Attendees can expect first class speakers and great networking opportunities. The event will […]

My wife and I have just sold an HMO property at auction (last Wednesday). It is a working HMO and the new owner is an investor who will be keeping the tenants on-board. I assume that I remain the Landlord up until completion, is that the case? I’ve seen in other articles that the new […]